Candid interviews and actionable advice from industry-leading experts and entrepreneurs.
Susan Deng
Owner & Senior Buyer
Mission: Providing electronic waste and recycling services with a focus on environmental sustainability and effective methods to minimize the amount of electronic waste being accumulated in landfills.
Founded: 2014
Chino, CA
Susan Deng is the Owner of PB Industry, an electronics recycling company. With global customers spanning across North America, South America, Europe, South East Asia , Korea, and Japan, her company provides comprehensive solutions for environmentally responsible recycling of IT assets. It was an honor to speak with her and learn how she built her now $40 million company from the ground up.
[AT]: How did you start your e-recycling company?
[SD]: I have been influenced by my family since the beginning. In China, my family has owned and operated an international metal trading company since 1980. After moving from China to the U.S. in high school, I went on to attend Indiana University and double majored in Mathematics and Economics. My very first job after college was at a TV refurbishing company. I gained a lot of e-commerce experience listing, selling, and reselling TV components. But I knew I wanted to be my own boss.
When I started my company in 2014, I focused on electronics. It’s more fun! The components can be reused and recycled. My drive and work ethic came from my parents. They are incredibly hard-working and supportive. It’s in my blood. I also understood that as the world keeps changing, it’s important to never stop learning. I knew that if I worked hard, focused on communication, and was willing to learn and be humble, the opportunities were endless.
As a first-generation immigrant to the United States, one of my main goals was to help my coworkers. It's very important to me. Many are also bilingual, and I wanted hard-working people to have opportunities. My goal is to give them a stage to showcase their talents and provide them with security, not just a place to work. I want them to be better than me. I almost think of my job as a teacher. I want the students to be better than the teacher, and to do the best work they can do.
[AT]: For those that may not be familiar, can you give us some background into the e-recycling industry?
[SD]: Sure! If you’ve ever purchased a computer from let’s say, Best Buy, you may have noticed that there’s a recycling fee to recycle your electronics. That’s where we come in. We partner with large corporations to collect, recycle, and resell electronic components and hardware from computer systems. E-recycling means you have to meet certain sustainability and environmental standards when you dispose of and resell electronic assets. Large companies also come to us for data extraction. For example, if they ever upgrade their IT systems and no longer need their old components, we securely extract data and responsibly destroy any leftover hardware.
[AT]: What was it like when you first started your company?
[SD]: In the beginning, it was just me handling multiple roles. I was the purchaser, salesperson, manager, and asset recovery specialist. When it came to gaining new clients, a lot of the time I reached out to prospects directly, looking for opportunities to process their material and present them with proposals.
After a few years, we started to get a lot of referrals. Since our customers were coming from all over the country and across the world, we knew we needed to expand. From California, we opened our second location in North Carolina, and then our third location in Texas. We’ve focused on providing the most convenience for the clients we serve. It’s pretty much a requirement. The closer you get to them, the better you can serve them. In 7 years, we’ve grown into a $40M company, and employ approximately 90 people nationwide.
[AT]: When did you start developing your website and brand presence?
[SD]: As we grew, we realized that our customers need a place to find us, and they needed more information about our company. It was important that they had a channel where they could research our company themselves. When we built our website, my condition was that it shouldn’t take a lot of time to maintain. It’s worked well for us. And to this day we don’t do too much advertising. For us, attending conferences has been key to our growth. It’s a great way to network and meet other entrepreneurs in the industry.
[AT]: What advice would you share with business owners who are just starting out?
[SD]: The biggest piece of advice I would share is to not have any fear. Just do it. Be willing to work hard, learn new things, and be humble. Stay up to date on current events every single day. Even if you’re not exactly sure which direction you want to go, don’t give up. Everything will work out!
To learn more about PB Industry, visit pbindustry.net.
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